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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 932
January Session, 2019
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E STAFF QUALIFICATIONS
REQUIREMENT FOR EARL Y CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 10-16p of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 2
1, 2019): 3
(b) (1) The office shall be the lead agency for school readiness. For 4
purposes of this section and section 10-16u, school readiness program 5
providers eligible for funding from the office shall include local and 6
regional boards of education, regional educational service centers, 7
family resource centers and providers of child care centers, as 8
[defined] described in section 19a-77, Head Start programs, preschool 9
programs and other programs that meet [such] any standards 10
established by the commissioner. The office shall establish standards 11
for school readiness programs. The standards may include, but need 12
not be limited to, guidelines for staff-child interactions, curriculum 13
content, including preliteracy development, lesson plans, [parent] 14
parental involvement, staff qualifications and training, transition to 15
school and administration. The office shall develop age-appropriate 16
developmental skills and goals for children attending such programs. 17
The commissioner, in consultation with the president of the 18
Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, the Commissioners of 19
Education and Social Services and other appropriate entities, shall 20 Substitute Bill No. 932
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develop a professional development program for the staff of school 21
readiness programs. 22
(2) For purposes of this section: 23
(A) Prior to July 1, [2020] 2022, "staff qualifications" means that for 24
each early childhood education program accepting state funds for 25
infant, toddler and preschool spaces associated with such program's 26
child care program or school readiness program, there is in each 27
classroom an individual who has at least the following: (i) A childhood 28
development associate credential or an equivalent credential issued by 29
an organization approved by the commissioner and twelve credits or 30
more in early childhood education or child development, as 31
determined by the commissioner or the president of the Connecticut 32
State Colleges and Universities, after consultation with the 33
commissioner, from an institution of higher education (I) accredited by 34
the Board of Regents for Higher Education or Office of Higher 35
Education, and (II) regionally accredited; (ii) an associate degree with 36
twelve credits or more in early childhood education or child 37
development, as determined by the commissioner or the president of 38
the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, after consultation with 39
the commissioner, from such an institution; (iii) a four-year degree 40
with twelve credits or more in early childhood education or child 41
development, as determined by the commissioner or the president of 42
the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, after consultation with 43
the commissioner, from such an institution; (iv) certification pursuant 44
to section 10-145b with an endorsement in early childhood education 45
or special education; (v) an associate degree with a concentration in 46
early childhood education from an institution of higher education that 47
is regionally accredited; or (vi) a bachelor's degree with a concentration 48
in early childhood education from an institution of higher education 49
that is regionally accredited; 50
(B) From July 1, [2020] 2022, until June 30, [2023] 2025, "staff 51
qualifications" means that for each early childhood education program 52
accepting state funds for infant, toddler and preschool spaces 53 Substitute Bill No. 932
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associated with such program's child care program or school readiness 54
program, (i) at least fifty per cent of those individuals with the primary 55
responsibility for a classroom of children (I) hold certification pursuant 56
to section 10-145b with an endorsement in early childhood education 57
or early childhood special education, (II) have been issued an early 58
childhood teacher credential, pursuant to section 10-520b, (III) hold at 59
least [a bachelor's] an associate degree with a concentration in early 60
childhood education from an institution of higher education that is 61
regionally accredited, or (IV) satisfy the requirements of subdivision 62
(3), (4) or (5) of this subsection, and (ii) such remaining individuals 63
with the primary responsibility for a classroom of children hold [an 64
associate degree with a concentration in early childhood education 65
from an institution of higher education that is regionally accredited; 66
and] a childhood development associate credential or an equivalent 67
credential issued by an organization approved by the commissioner 68
and twelve credits or more in early childhood education or child 69
development, as determined by the commissioner or the president of 70
the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, after consultation with 71
the commissioner, from an institution of higher education (I) 72
accredited by the Board of Regents for Higher Education or Office of 73
Higher Education, and (II) regionally accredited; 74
(C) From July 1, 2025, until June 30, 2029, "staff qualifications" 75
means that for each early childhood education program accepting state 76
funds for infant, toddler and preschool spaces associated with such 77
program's child care program or school readiness program, (i) at least 78
fifty per cent of those individuals with the primary responsibility for a 79
classroom of children (I) hold certification pursuant to section 10-145b 80
with an endorsement in early childhood education or early childhood 81
special education, (II) have been issued an early childhood teacher 82
credential, pursuant to subdivision (2) of section 10-520b, (III) hold at 83
least a bachelor's degree with a concentration in early childhood 84
education from an institution of higher education that is regionally 85
accredited, or (IV) satisfy the requirements of subdivision (3), (4) or (5) 86
of this subsection, and (ii) such remaining individuals with the 87 Substitute Bill No. 932
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primary responsibility for a classroom of children (I) hold an associate 88
degree with a concentration in early childhood education from an 89
institution of higher education that is regionally accredited, or (II) have 90
been issued an early childhood teacher credential, pursuant to 91
subdivision (1) of section 10-520b; and 92
[(C)] (D) On and after July 1, [2023] 2029, "staff qualifications" means 93
that for each early childhood education program accepting state funds 94
for infant, toddler and preschool spaces associated with such 95
program's child care program or school readiness program, one 96
hundred per cent of those individuals with the primary responsibility 97
for a classroom of children (i) hold certification pursuant to section 10-98
145b with an endorsement in early childhood education or early 99
childhood special education, (ii) have been issued an early childhood 100
teacher credential, pursuant to subdivision (2) of section 10-520b, (iii) 101
hold at least a bachelor's degree with a concentration in early 102
childhood education from an institution of higher education that is 103
regionally accredited, or (iv) satisfy the requirements of subdivision 104
(3), (4) or (5) of this subsection. 105
(3) Any individual with a bachelor's degree in early childhood 106
education or child development or a bachelor's degree and twelve 107
credits or more in early childhood education or child development, 108
who, on or before June 30, 2015, is employed by an early childhood 109
education program that accepts state funds for infant, toddler and 110
preschool spaces associated with such program's child care program or 111
school readiness program shall be considered to meet the staff 112
qualifications required under subparagraphs (B) [and (C)] to (D), 113
inclusive, of subdivision (2) of this subsection. No such early 114
childhood education program shall terminate any such individual 115
from employment for purposes of meeting the staff qualification 116
requirements set forth in subparagraph (B), [or] (C) or (D) of 117
subdivision (2) of this subsection. 118
(4) Any individual with an associate degree or a bachelor's degree in 119
early childhood education or child development or an associate degree 120 Substitute Bill No. 932
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or a bachelor's degree and twelve credits or more in early childhood 121
education or child development from an institution of higher 122
education that is regionally accredited, other than an associate degree 123
or a bachelor's degree with a concentration in early childhood 124
education, may submit documentation concerning such degree for 125
review and assessment by the office as to whether such degree has a 126
sufficient concentration in early childhood education so as to satisfy 127
the requirements set forth in subparagraphs (B) [and (C)] to (D), 128
inclusive, of subdivision (2) of this subsection. 129
(5) Any individual with an associate degree with twelve credits or 130
more in early childhood education or child development, as 131
determined by the commissioner or the president of the Connecticut 132
State Colleges and Universities, after consultation with the 133
commissioner, from an institution of higher education (A) accredited 134
by the Board of Regents for Higher Education or Office of Higher 135
Education, and (B) regionally accredited, who has been employed in 136
the same early childhood education program that accepts state funds 137
for infant, toddler and preschool spaces associated with such 138
program's child care program or school readiness program since 1995 139
shall be considered to meet the staff qualifications required under 140
subparagraphs (B) [and (C)] to (D), inclusive, of subdivision (2) of this 141
subsection until June 30, 2025. On and after July 1, 2025, such 142
individual shall hold a childhood development associate credential or 143
an equivalent credential, described in subparagraph (A) of subdivision 144
(2) of this subsection, or otherwise meet the staff qualifications 145
required under [subparagraph (C)] subparagraphs (C) and (D) of 146
subdivision (2) of this subsection. Any such individual who terminates 147
his or her employment with such early childhood education program 148
on or before June 30, 2025, and accepts a position at another early 149
childhood education program accepting state funds for spaces 150
associated with such program's child care program or school readiness 151
program shall submit documentation of such individual's progress 152
toward meeting the staff qualification requirements set forth in 153
subparagraph (B) [or (C)] to (D), inclusive, of subdivision (2) of this 154 Substitute Bill No. 932
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subsection in a manner determined by the office. 155
Sec. 2. Subsection (c) of section 10-520 of the general statutes is 156
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 157
1, 2019): 158
(c) During a review and assessment pursuant to subdivision (4) of 159
subsection (b) of section 10-16p, the office shall (1) review the results of 160
the trend analysis conducted pursuant to subsection (b) of this section 161
for the purpose of determining whether the degree of an individual 162
with a bachelor's degree in early childhood education or child 163
development or a bachelor's degree and twelve credits or more in early 164
childhood education or child development, other than those bachelor's 165
degrees specified in subparagraphs (B) [and (C)] to (D), inclusive, of 166
subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of section 10-16p, as amended by this 167
act, has a sufficient concentration in early childhood education so as to 168
satisfy the requirements set forth in said subparagraphs (B) [and (C)] 169
to (D), inclusive, and (2) consider an individual to have met the 170
requirements set forth in said subparagraphs (B) [and (C)] to (D), 171
inclusive, if the degree of such individual is from a bachelor's degree 172
program in early childhood education or child development that is 173
aligned with the teacher preparation standards of the National 174
Association for the Education of Young Children as determined by 175
such trend analysis. 176
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2019 10-16p(b)
Sec. 2 July 1, 2019 10-520(c)
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 1(b)(1), "defined" was changed to "[defined] described" for
accuracy and Section 2 was added for consistency.
ED Joint Favorable Subst.